


Napkins

by bisexualreina



Category: The Fall (TV 2013), The X-Files
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Emily Sim Lives, F/F, Family Fluff, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, bisexual mothers, stella and scully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27721549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualreina/pseuds/bisexualreina
Summary: First Scully Thanksgiving for Stella and Emily
Relationships: Stella Gibson & Dana Scully, Stella Gibson/Dana Scully
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	Napkins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AshleighSixx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshleighSixx/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Ashleigh! And thank you for the help Ginny!! Love you both!

Both Stella and Emily watched curiously as Scully moved rhythmically through the kitchen basting the massive turkey in the oven, along with four other steaming sides that were propped up on the counter waiting with tin foil covering the ceramic dishes. Stella just gazed in amazement at her soon to be wife, how her apron hugged her waist tightly, the slight stain of red wine on her lips. Scully had insisted that they get dressed up for their first Thanksgiving meal together, the holiday a number of milestones for both her fiancé and her daughter, and with her mother away at Bill and Tara’s it was just the three of them, with the chance of Charlie or Mulder stopping by for pie.

Emily wrinkled her nose as she pulled on the soft maroon dress that Scully had purchased for her, leaning tiredly into Stella who was also feeling quite drowsy herself. Genetics be damned Emily was both of their daughter, and without her mid afternoon snack and nap she was getting pretty close to dozing off, similar to the blinking blonde.

Scully breathed a sigh of excitement as she pulled the large bird out of the oven, setting it onto the counter along with the other sides and rolls. Both Emily and Stella leapt at the sight, the toddler allowing her mother to scoop her tiny frame off of the counter and onto her hip.

“I’m so hungry mama! Can we eat now!” Emily cried, rooting her little eyes back and forth between her two parents. Scully chuckled and began untying her apron, draping it over the sink before smoothing down her lavender sweater that Stella had taken a particular liking to. The redhead dropped a hand to the back of her head and nodded before pressing a kiss onto her cheek.

“Alright, now what do you want to eat?” Scully questioned towards the girl still comfortably settled in Stella’s embrace, her cheek sleepily resting on the girl’s hair that was wild and full of static from her mother’s silk blouse.

“Everything!” She cried in excitement, making Stella chuckle at the comment while Scully made a mirroring plate for her daughter with much more even portions of each dish, compared to her biased portion of mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole to the small dish of peas and sweet potatoes that were just there for show.

Once Emily was settled in her seat Stella nervously fixed herself a plate similar to her daughter’s and made her way to their tiny kitchen table in Scully’s flat. She noticed her fiancé’s patient grin as she waited for Stella to get situated, her daughter mirroring her folded hands, the toddler’s primly placed against her chest, finger tips squished on her lips.

“Now, before we eat, we are going to go around and say what we are thankful for.” Scully explained, making the little girl nod in partial confusion, glancing over at Stella for confirmation, causing the blonde to just smile and clear her throat.

“I’ll start.” She announced, her two girls now watching with matching wide gazes that melted her heart.

“I’m grateful for you my little Emmy Bean. I’m grateful for mama. I’m grateful that I am healthy, and that you both are safe. And I’m very grateful to be spending this holiday with you two and for all of this yummy food.” Stella grinned, feeling herself getting worked up over her list. In the past, knowing Scully and falling in love with her, many of their holidays were spent separated, on the phone and through stacks of printed photos that were shared upon their next meeting, but this time she was finally spending one of Scully’s with her.

Emily still seemed unconvinced, causing Scully to grin warmly and raise her hand to notify that she would share next.

“I’m grateful for you as well, Emily. That we had such a wonderful year together and that I got to bring you home with me.” Scully began to choke up, swiftly finding her composure to prevent an awkwardly emotionally beginning to their holiday meal.

“I’m grateful for mommy, and for the food on our table and the roof over our heads.” She rambled, making the little girl tap her redheaded mother to place her own suggestion.

“And for Fox!” She reminded, making Scully chuckle at the mention of her dear friend.

“And Fox.” She settled, her list finishing on a lighter note than she imagined, glancing over at her daughter who seemed a bit nervous to share, making Scully nod at Stella who seemed famished at this point.

“Name one thing that you are grateful for then we can eat.” Scully compromised, causing Emily to bite her lip as she thought extra long and hard before coming to a conclusion.

“For mama and mommy. Because for turkey day before I was in bed and my tummy hurt a lot and there was no yummy food.” She frowned momentarily, her memory of her holiday season much different than the two grown women sitting speechless at the table. Stella felt her fork fall from her hand as she struggled to move a discreet hand to her mouth, the noise and image making Emily’s eyes water at the sight.

“I’m sorry.” She cried immediately, unsure of what she did, but both women just brushed the shock away and shook their head at her urgently. “No, you have nothing to be sorry for. Mommy is just very happy that you are feeling better and can eat mama’s yummy food with us.” Stella breathed, her words finding a way to distract their little one, urging her to dig in.

Scully had been famished, cooking all day from the crack of dawn all the way up until the mealtime. However this was her Super Bowl, she had been preparing all week, eagerly gathering all the ingredients, training, practicing for her meal for her family. 

She could feel her stomach filling and expanding, slowing her pace as she ate and chatted with her family, pausing in between to cut up Emily’s food into smaller pieces. Stella poured herself another glass of red wine and then swapped the bottles to give their daughter a tiny plastic flute of sparkling cider, the grins on their faces wide as Stella led them in a masterfully silly and touching toast to commemorate their time together. She watched as the bubbles tickled her button nose, and their food remained less scarfed, just lightly poked at, causing Scully’s heart to drop momentarily.

“Are you full, baby?” She questioned softly, causing Emily to shrink in her seat and shake her head at her mother, shoveling another spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

“Do you want some more turkey then?” She offered, noticing however, the remaining turkey that was still pushed around on her plate, causing her to furrow her brow in discouragement that her tiny family hated her meal that even Stella was forcing down in the corner of her eye.

“Emily, if you don’t like the turkey you can tell mama, you won’t hurt her feelings.” Scully explained softly, her words causing Stella to whip her eyes up from her plate, mouth wide as she watched their daughter’s lip quiver at the question.

“It looked good, but it tastes like napkins!” She wept, her tiny face falling into her pudgy hands that were somehow still covered in gravy. Her metaphor making Scully chuckle softly and move out of her seat towards her daughter who already seemed so nervous to please her.

“Oh my goodness Emily, you’re allowed to not like certain foods. Just because we have turkey on Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that you have to eat it just because mama made it.” Scully explained, gingerly cleaning her hands and face which had remnants of both the potatoes and gravy that she seemed to be enjoying.

“I’m sorry mama.” Emily croaked once more, making Scully look up at Stella who had moved next to the little girl, softly taking her now cleaned hand into her own, rubbing it until she felt the toddler relax.

“You don’t need to say sorry, Emily. I appreciate you being a big girl and trying everything on your plate and being so polite about it.” Scully encouraged, rubbing her cheek before glancing at her fiancé who gave a supportive nod and cleared her throat.

“This is mummy’s first Thanksgiving too, and she didn’t really like the sweet potatoes or stuffing.” She admitted, glancing over at Scully this time with a genuine apology, knowing how hard she had worked on their meal, before returning back to their daughter.

“Really?” Emily questioned, her tears now just sniffles as she glanced at Stella who nodded earnestly in her direction, holding her plate over towards the little girl who just nodded at her and smiled softly.

“You seemed to have liked your carrots, corn, mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole…” Scully noted, sighing in careful defeat at the food groups that her daughter had gravitated towards, but she told herself it was just one day, and Emily would be back to balanced meals on Monday. 

The redhead simply placed the turkey back into the dish and scooped some more of the vegetables onto her plate and another small helping of mashies to allow her daughter some regular sustenance before she brought the pies out.

“Alright you two, now that we’re all being honest, you are free to get whatever helpings you want of whatever is up there.” Scully winked, watching Stella smirk at their almost four year old and rearrange her plate to her liking.

…

The plates had been washed, leftovers stored, and pie consumed with the help of one extremely hungry Fox Mulder, who had popped in with a stuffed turkey for Emily and some stickers. Now the three of them were curled on the sofa while the parade from the early morning played back.

Emily squealed in pure delight at the sight of Elmo and Snoopy being led down the streets of New York with large strings, clapping excitedly followed by the Sesame Street theme song that looped through both mothers’ heads on the daily, allowing them to happily sing along to “Sunny Days”.

Once the parade began to fade Stella let the program turn to _The Wizard of Oz_ while Emily began to settle, the food now forcing them down and into a warm huddle of blankets on the sofa. Emily hummed softly with the young girl on the screen, sprawled in both of her mothers’ laps comfortably.

“I think that before we let this movie go on, we should go do bath time and then maybe come out and finish this.” Stella suggested, aware of the VHS tape that Scully owned of this very film that they could play back, but she could feel Emily’s weight sinking farther into her as the film went on.

The little girl huffed in agreement, allowing the blonde to scoop her up in one swift motion while Scully wandered off to grab her pajamas and purple blanket in order to make the transition from sofa to bed easier if she hopefully dozed off.

Stella happily marched them into the bathroom where mint tile ran up the walls, and a large clawed tub sat in the corner. 

She could feel the little girl cling to her with more effort, her tiny body tired from the meal she had consumed, and the somewhat late hour. Once she was plopped inside Stella made sure to fill the tub with enough bubbles to occupy her while she gingerly got to work.

Her hair was scrubbed clean and combed through gently by the dsi whose hands had broken noses, led body retrievals, and flipped off men properly, tenderly worked the silky tresses of her daughter. The tiny girl was wrapped warmly in the massive towel and smelled of lovely lavender and mint, causing Stella to linger for a moment and press a kiss onto her head.

“How was your holiday Emmy Bean?” Stella asked, the only response being a wide grin and a prompt thumbs up as Scully entered the bathroom with the lavender footie pajamas and undergarments that she mastered dressing with like a pro at this point.

Once the girl was dressed and calm, Stella found herself carrying her back out to the living room where Scully had set up a fort of cushions and blankets in front of the sofa, all prepared with Emily’s blankie and bear, ready for the movie.

“Wow!” She gasped, lifting her tired cheek from Stella’s shoulders, the Christmas Tree illuminating the room along with the image of Glinda the Good on the screen.

“Well, I’d say this is a wonderful end to our first Scully Thanksgiving. How do you think it was?” Stella questioned as she set the girl down to scramble onto the cushions and blankets, scooting herself underneath, her drooping eyes telling both women that she’d be out soon.

“It was the most marvelous!” She gasped, both of her parents snuggling on either side of her, Stella now laughing at the outburst.

“I’d say the same thing. Thank you mama.” She grinned, leaning in to kiss Scully before reaching down to peck Emily on the head before blowing raspberry kisses onto her cheeks, neck and arms, making her squeal in delight. 

The three of them snuggled in, both women now changed into their own pajamas, comfortable enough for the three of them to fall asleep in the cocoon that they created, the movie murmuring in the background, lulling all three sleepy heads to a deep, Thanksgiving induced slumber.


End file.
